Need More Sunlight
June 2, 2008 Posted by Al Castle
3comments Categories: Castle, Squirrels
Tags: fat, gym, tanning
Back story: A few months ago I headed to my drive-thru medical practitioner to talk about my lethargy and mood. At the time the weather was dreary, but even when it’s not I tend to spend my time on the computer, in the basement, with the shades down. My sun light in-take is near mole people levels. So she had me goto the lab, where the technicians take turns trying to find a vein. (This usually takes 3-5 stabbings as my veins are oh so wily. One tech actually said that the vein “moved out of the way” just as she was about to stab it. Uh huh.) They ended up taking several tubes of my precious juice and on my next visit I was informed that I’m so vitamin D deficient I had to take prescription vitamin D. I didn’t know you could even get prescriptions for vitamins. One bloated, Nyquil looking pill a week, would give me some 50,000 units of vitamin D. In addition it was recommended I start using a tanning bed.
And that brings us to todays post. I have a gym membership that I’ve used only a couple times, but one of the benefits they have there are tanning facilities. So I headed on down for my first tanning session today, where they showed me how the thing works. All the beds were in use so I had to use the stand up unit, something that looked like a coffin/transporter/microwave all in one. I had to figure out how the stupid welding goggle things worked, then willfully stand buck naked in - The Device. There was a fear of pubes bursting into flames or burns on tender anatomy, but I figured I’d give it a go - besides running screaming naked through the gym with smoldering pubes sounded ridiculously fun.
They only let me nuke for about 4 minutes since it was my first time and afterwards I marveled at my growing bulk in the full length mirror. I don’t feel any more vitamin D-y, and I certainly don’t look any more tan.
As I headed out (clothed), past the mostly empty machines and pool I realized that I could have also worked out. I had only worn flipflops though, so lucky me I had an excellent excuse. Methinks that next time I’ll try to convince myself to do both while I’m there.
The Hulk: More Powerful Than Superman
June 2, 2008 Posted by Al Castle
8comments Categories: Insider, Marketing, Religion, Science, gnash-teeth
Tags: comics, hulk, superman
This will probably be the first of many posts to address the misguided, fanboy, delusional belief that DC Comics Superman could defeat Marvel Comics The Incredible Hulk. This is a topic that has always bothered me and my friend Lauren Miller recently reminded me that this gross, almost religious denial of fact continues.
An excerpt from Wikipedia
The Hulk possesses the potential for limitless physical strength depending directly on his emotional state, particularly his anger.[32] This has been reflected in the repeated comment “The madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets.” His durability, healing, and endurance increase in relation to his temper.[33] The Hulk is also extremely resistant to most forms of injury or damage, including physical, psychic, environmental extremes, and is immune to disease and poisons. His powerful legs allow him to leap into lower Earth orbit or across continents.[34] He also has less commonly described powers, including abilities allowing him to “home in” to his place of origin in New Mexico, and to see and interact with astral forms. He has been shown to have both regenerative and adaptive healing abilities, including growing tissues to allow him to breathe underwater, surviving unprotected in space, and when injured, healing from almost any wound within seconds, including regenerating lost mass.
As Bruce Banner (and the Merged/Professor Hulk), he is considered one of the greatest minds on Earth. He has developed expertise in the fields of biology, chemistry, engineering, and physiology, and holds a Ph.D. in nuclear physics. He possesses “a mind so brilliant it cannot be measured on any known intelligence test”.[35]
The image ^ is from Incredible Hulk Vs Superman (1997) where the Hulk easily breaks the surprise hold Superman nabs him with and throws him into space.
So to summarize, the Hulks power (strength, durability & regeneration) is essentially unknown and possibly limitless. It’s important to note that magic, viruses, diseases, and psionics have no effect. He’s also the smartest man on the planet.
Let’s now take a look at this “Superman”.
Excerpt from Wikipedia.
As an influential archetype of the superhero genre, Superman possesses extraordinary powers, with the character traditionally described as “faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound”, a phrase coined by Jay Morton and first used in the Superman radio serials and Max Fleischer animated shorts of the 1940s[75] as well as the TV series of the 1950s. For most of his existence, Superman’s famous arsenal of powers has included flight, super-strength, invulnerability to non-magical attacks, super-speed, vision powers (including x-ray, heat, telescopic, infra-red, and microscopic vision), super-hearing, and super-breath, which enables him to freeze objects by blowing on them, as well as exert the propulsive force of high-speed winds.[76]
As originally conceived and presented in his early stories, Superman’s powers were relatively limited, consisting of superhuman strength that allowed him to lift a car over his head, run at amazing speeds and leap one-eighth of a mile, as well as incredibly tough skin that could be pierced by nothing less than an exploding artillery shell.[76] Siegel and Shuster compared his strength and leaping abilities to an ant and a grasshopper.[77]
….The extent of his powers peaked during the 1970s and 1980s to the point where various writers found it difficult to create suitable challenges for the character.
Superman began as essentially that, a super man. Overtime though Superman was so over inflated with God like powers that it became too ridiculous of a storyline to continue. Ultimately though this alien, (but a very human alien) is charged with power from our sun Sol. His power is then finite and not able to increase depending upon his mood. His use of this power in turn must then diminish it. Additionally he is highly susceptible to psionics, magic, several viruses and of course Kryptonite.
It is simply too unbelievable that this little man, with his silly underwear, cape and boots could possibly pose a problem for the intelligence and raw power of the Hulk.
